Srijit Mukherji, who had an average run at the box office in 2022 with Sherdil: The Pilibhit Chapter and Taapsee Pannu-starrer Shabaash Mithu, is now gearing up for his new show, Jaanbaaz Hindustan Ke, which will stream on an OTT platform from January 26. In a freewheeling chat with The Free Press Journal, Srijit talks about striking balance between Hindi and Bengali industries, reasons to cast Regina Cassandra, and more.
Taapsee, who headlined Shabaash Mithu, was the life story of the former captain of the Indian women cricket team Mithali Raj, while Regina will be playing IPS Kavya Iyer. When asked if his narratives are consciously inclined towards strong women-oriented roles, he shares, “It’s merely a coincidence that most of my Hindi subjects are driven by the powerful female characters. My Bengali domain is mostly male-dominated. I don’t think there is a particular affinity towards female-oriented stories.”
Sharing further on maintaining the perfect balance between both industries, language, and storytelling, he reveals, “The thumb rule is to tell a story that excites me on my terms. The gender and medium of the storytelling don’t matter to me. I don’t believe in making remakes and in the last two years, I have turned down 12-13 offers of remakes. They had big stars; some were remakes of Southern films, some were of Korean films, and so on. For me, the change in media should happen as that’s where the storyteller comes in. I don’t want to garnish someone else’s dish. I like to have some kind of literary reference, real-life incident etc.”
On a parting note, Srijit reveals the reason behind casting Regina in the show. “We became good friends during the shoot. I saw her performance in Rocket Boys and I was impressed. She has done a lot of action films down South. Plus, she has an athletic physique and has done stunts on her own. She was the action master’s delight,” he signs off.
